McGill University is located on unceded Haudenosaunee & Anishinaabe traditional territories

1992 | Indigenous students threaten to leave Canadian Federation of Students.

Indigenous students threatened to leave the Canadian Federation of Students, of which SSMU was a member, unless the national student lobby group made better representation of Indigenous issues a priority. Many Indigenous students claimed that the CFS was simply not addressing the many concerns of Indigenous students – including treaty rights, self-determination, land claims and settlements, discrimination of campus and the preservation of traditions, cultures, and languages. Some students also had a problem with the Federation’s decision making procedure, which was majority rule, since many Indigenous groups used consensus based decision making. Educational funding was one of the areas that the CFS was said to be most ineffective. While Indigenous student aid was a federal responsibility, the CFS put emphasis on lobbying at the provincial level. The result was many Indigenous students not receiving sufficient postsecondary financial aid.